[LONGHAIR]

I have done it to quite a few vehicles over the years and never had any real issues. But, I always hooked up the "remote" button for the "locking the keys in" emergency and most times hooked up a "hot terminal" to jump the battery. The older cars don't need that because the hood latch is entirely external.
I did have to "break-in" to the trunk of a '67 Impala one time because the actuator failed. That was a nice little adventure....Seems like it would be easy, just pop out the top setion of the back seat right? Oh...no, this thing was full of batteries and pumps, not to mention an upholstered panel that blocked the view of the back of the seat when the trunk was open.

Heck the factory is even doing it now. The back doors of my HHR Panel do not have exterior handles, they work by a button on the dash. The '08 and newer models work from the key fob remote too.

Speaking of that, if you are really worried about the "life" of your actuators, maybe try some of the GM units? I'm sure they did some serious durability testing before putting something like that into production. They might co$t, but it might be worth it in the long run?